DACTYL is an avian wildlife education center located on an existing bird preservation site in the Arkansas delta, an extension of the Mississippi River Valley. It can be accessed from a levee that eventually opens up to a shallow lake--"apple lake" to locals. The building scheme, derived from various bird anatomical structures, bridges the channel and creates a portal for the lake entry. DACTYL's primary space - an exhibition gallery - resides within the "bridge" crossing the channel

The crux of the gallery was that it must be able to "molt" its exhibition armatures and become a communal space. To that end, a series of unfolding vitrines extend from the solar fin envelope and mimic the opening of a bird wing. The fixed glass and steel vertical fins tightly wrap the perimeter and serve as a reinterpretation of the optical effects of light passing through bird feathers (specifically, the hyperchromatic primary feathers of the Anhinga, a darter bird with a specialized neck designed to unfold rapidly and spear prey).